


Fluttering Feelings

by Rayla957



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Arguing, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Ficlet, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Mentioned Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Mutual Pining, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29469240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayla957/pseuds/Rayla957
Summary: The aftermath of an argument forces Rayla to ponder what she really thinks of Callum, and vice versa.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wow_thats_angsty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wow_thats_angsty/gifts), [LynxMadrid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynxMadrid/gifts).



> Trigger warnings: negative self-talk, arguing/confrontation
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm gifting this to two of my biggest supporters! Huge shoutout to wow_thats_angsty and LynxMadrid for being great people <3
> 
> ...
> 
> Disclaimer: I wrote the original version back in 2019, and while editing made it leaps and bounds better, it's not a wholly accurate reflection of my writing skill now.

The moon rose, then the sun, but Rayla did not rise from her place. 

Mixed emotions (nuisances, really) had kept her from sleep. Guilt, confusion, and an odd little thrill swirled within her all at once.

She asked herself what Callum would do- he was better at these things than she was, Rayla thought ruefully. 

He would have been able to deal with a mess of emotions like this.

So she tried to sort them out and separate them, but they were tangled up like knotted string.

Guilt was most prominent. That she knew. She'd hurt her friend, and, she thought, it was only fair she felt this terrible for it.

Friend...

Rayla was surprised at how comfortable she felt with the term. After all, she and Callum had only known each other for a month or so, maybe less, and she wasn't the type to trust easily.

Yet, "friend" wasn't quite the right way to put it, she realized. Sure, it was true, but were they something else too?

...

Last night, they'd been arguing. She said something harsh again and Callum snapped. They'd shouted, screamed, left Ezran in the corner to cover his ears.

Callum, in an outburst of anger, had called her prideful, called her stubborn, a hopeless case and a lost cause.

And then he said that he regretted ever loving her.

And then he left her alone to deal with the implications.

...

Guilt- yes, it was definitely, definitely guilt- didn't leave her alone, no matter how much she wanted it to. It pooled behind her eyes and kept a tight grip on her throat and made her want to cry. And that was stupid.

Goddamnit, why couldn't she have had one of those cliche romance-novel confessions? She hated those with a passion but it would have been far preferable to whatever this was.

So, he loved her. In the past tense.

Did she love him? 

Was she even worth being loved? (She doubted it.)

Were they even friends anymore?

Surely he hated her now.

So many of her thoughts involved him these days. That sunshine smile of his was contagious. At the same time, he completely and utterly confused her.

He was kind, he was funny, and he was her friend, but did she love him?

Rayla couldn't deny the flutter she felt when she saw him, but she had thoroughly convinced herself that she was just happy to see him, nothing more.

When she could deny that no longer, she told herself it was just a superficial crush and she would get over him. 

Until she didn't, and now she was beginning to wonder...


	2. let's do it again, for real this time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: slight negative self-talk, Callum being salty at Rayla, reiteration of the confrontation that was explained last chapter
> 
> ...
> 
> This is rushed but oh well. Feedback is welcome though! <3
> 
> Without further ado, let's watch Callum and Rayla be the overcomplicated doofuses that they are :D

Callum stood alone in his room, looking out the window with tired eyes and resisting the urge to yell at the sun for mocking him. He hadn't slept, and he doubted Rayla had either.

He buried his head in his hands with a small sigh.

Why was he like this?

Just like he always did, he'd let his emotions spill overboard in all the wrong ways. Worry for Rayla had turned into spite, which flew out his mouth before he could stop it and took the form of sharp words.

She'd been being stubborn, as usual, because nothing ever changed with them, she never let him in.

And as a result he'd blurted out the absolute worst thing possible.

"I regret ever loving you."

And then he'd left.

Leaving was usually Rayla's job, he thought, letting a bitter laugh escape him. Callum was the one who stayed and talked through things, but yesterday he was sick of that, because it wasn't going anywhere.

Maybe if they'd been in some sort of failing relationship and about to break up, his retort would have been appropriate. But they'd never dated, so this was a confession of sorts. He was pretty sure this wasn't how confessions were supposed to go.

He really, really wished he hadn't said it.

Had she been hurt by it?

Something in his chest constricted at the thought. Rayla had enough to deal with, and she didn't need him adding to those hurts of hers.

Then again, what with how she closed herself off and snapped at him when he tried to help, she probably didn't need him at all.

He needed her, but that was a different story.

The creak of a door hinge alerted him to someone's presence.

Rayla stood in the doorway, looking equally as tired as he was. (Against all his better judgement, a pang of guilt struck him. She shouldn't have had to stay up on his account.)

"Callum... I wanted to talk."

Callum moved away from the window to sit down on his bed. She followed suit.

His heartbeat sped up when her gaze met his, and he tried not to focus on how pretty her eyes were. These were serious matters and would not be ruined by any fluttery feelings.

Then she took his hand and he thought he would burst into flames.

The sharp clarity of her voice snapped him back into reality. "I'm really, really sorry about before, Callum. I'm been thinking about what you said."

His words sped past in a lightning rush. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said it, I really shouldn't have, I didn't mean to, I didn't mean it. Well, um, I meant part of it, I-"

Rayla squeezed his hand lightly. "Hey, calm down. Breathe."

He paused, drew in a deep breath, then started again, much calmer this time. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I didn't really mean what I said."

Rayla looked, oddly, a little put-out.

"But..." His voice hitched, and he had to take another moment to collect himself. "There is a part I meant to say, so maybe we can have a do-over and I can say it right this time."

Oh, god, this was going to be hard to voice, but he had to say it, he had to, it weighed on him like... like something that was probably a very obvious metaphor, but he couldn't think clearly right now, no matter the consequences he had to just get this out there before he exploded-

"I do love you."

The world dropped into silence for what felt like eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woooo


End file.
